


Damn Tropics

by axayashinoceres



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, World War I, doctor!eren, militaryLevi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-02 09:12:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2807246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axayashinoceres/pseuds/axayashinoceres
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of the many things I regret, none has ever made me wish to curse the whole world until this very moment. Who gives a shit about this place? If it wasn’t for that American baldie, I wouldn’t have volunteered myself to this shithole place full of brainless, barbaric natives. Damn tropics!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damn Tropics

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was made in response to a challenge fic. This is the longest I've ever written, whether as a oneshot or a chapter. Please have the patience to read through it. Don't forget to review~

Of the many things Eren hated the most, pointless war would be on top of his list. War brought nothing but pain, death, and loss. It killed loved ones, orphaned children, and ravaged homes. But he could do nothing about it. He was just an Army Doctor. He was here for one reason and one reason alone - to save lives, whether from enemy forces or allies. All lives are precious and all have a right to be saved.

“Doctor Eren Jaeger, I presume?” a deep voice brought him out of his mulling and he turned to see a blonde man with hair slicked in a way that made it look like he was wearing a wig.

“You presume correctly,” he replied tersely, green eyes burning with indignance upon seeing the distrust in this man’s eyes. “And you must be Commander Erwin Smith. I’d say it was a pleasure to meet you but I would be lying and on principle, I try not to.”

“Must be the German in you,” the man standing next to the commander muttered in a low voice, probably trying not to let anyone hear. But Eren heard it anyway.

“The way you act so uncivilized must be the American in you, I should say,” Eren retorted sharply. He was getting tired of being judged based on his nationality. His family is Jew, and their homeland betrayed them. It was painful to lose one’s roots in such a way.

“Touché, Doctor. I must apologize for my colleague’s unscrupulous behavior. Come this way, and we’ll show you to our makeshift hospital. Do you think you can start working now?”

Eren followed beside the commander while his unscrupulous colleague lagged behind them. “I should hope so. Time doesn’t wait for lives to be saved. How many patients do you have and how many are gravely injured?”

Erwin’s brow rose but he said nothing about Eren’s blunt manner. “I’d say around 500 patients and 156 are injured, 30 of them gravely injured. I didn’t expect the doctor they sent to be so young.”

“...What? And for the record, age has no basis on skill. I am more than qualified. Now explain how you have 500 patients and only have 150 injured!?” He stopped walking and stared coldly at the man.

“156,” he corrected. “And as for the larger number of patients, they are, for the most part, sick. Our doctors refuse to come near them and the nurses only takes care of their basic needs.”

“I have no idea how you can be so calm. What if you have an epidemic in your hands?” the young doctor seethed as he resumed walking, but at a brisk pace.

“I was assured that whatever is making them sick is not caused by any epidemic known,” Erwin answered just as they arrived outside the hospital tent.

Eren swept into the tent without saying a word and paused soon after, surveying the place. He doesn’t like what he’s seeing. It went against his code as a practicing doctor sworn to treat the sick and dying. He grabbed the first man in white coat that had the misfortune to cross his path, and jerked him to a stop.

“You! Where are the quarantined patients?” he demanded, eyes simmering.

“What in  the- Who the heck are you!?”

“Doctor,” Erwin interjected. “This is Doctor Eren Jaeger. He’ll be helping around in the hospital. Could you please lead us to my sick men? It would be great if our young doctor here could quickly identify and cure them so they can come back on the field.” The commander smiled genially and the doctor frowned but nodded and started off.

Eren could not avoid looking around them as they passed cots and uncomfortable-looking beds. All of them were filled with the injured. Most of them seem to be on the road to recovery. But there are quite a few, he could tell with just a look, who will not make it by the end of the week at the latest, tonight at the soonest.

“Nile,” Commander Erwin finally addressed his companion. “Go get the Head Doctor. I’m sure Doctor Jaeger would like to ask him some questions.”

“I got it.”

They exited the tent through the back, and came upon a makeshift building. A great deal of thought was put into building it, but considering the available materials, they obviously just had to make do. A few minutes later the Head Doctor and the one called Nile arrived and introductions were made. The doctor Eren had accosted earlier was finally dismissed to resume his duties.

“Doctor,” Eren began. “If these soldiers are not suffering from an epidemic, can you tell me why they are quarantined?”

The man in the white lab coat sighed and looked at him earnestly. “It is an epidemic. But it is not the contagious kind. Circumstances make it seem that there’s a contagion so I was forced to quarantine them to allay suspicions and unwarranted fear. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell what caused this or how they contracted the disease.”

Eren looked through the open doorway, seeing the many beds occupied by soldiers moaning and delirious with fever. As he looked, he spotted something unusual. Among these men, one was reading comfortably, though his sickly pallor was evident. “What-?” he murmured to himself, unable to take his eyes away.

“Would you like to check them over yourself?” the head doctor asked, interpreting Eren’s gaze as such. “We need to cover ourselves appropriately, of course. But if you could help us uncover this mystery, it would be much appreciated. More and more fall sick to the same illness as the days go by.”

“Alright,” Eren acceded in accented English. “I would like to talk to some of the patients, if they are well enough to answer questions.”

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“Tell me the symptoms you have observed,” Eren asked of the doctor as they stopped at each bed for Eren to check pulse rate, the temperature, and the responsiveness of the patient. Most of them are delirious in fever. Some have already succumbed to coma.

“It started out like the common flu,” the doctor began. “Fevers, chills, headaches, sweating and muscle pains. So we gave them enough care to let the flu run its course. But then things went steadily worse. They began vomiting. Some would faint, looking so deathly pale. They were anemic.”

“Are those the worst of the symptoms?” Eren continued his query as he soothed a man’s back after the said man had vomited.

“Those who came to us for help after waiting too long, and those who were among the first that we managed to care for when they were still the flu stages, each one of them had kidney failure and died soon after. We had to preserve our supplies of painkillers. It was unfortunate but those men had died in great pain. Only those who had slipped into a coma and died without ever regaining consciousness, were lucky to die painlessly.”

By the time they arrived at the last bed, the man he saw reading earlier had fallen asleep. His breathing was quick and shallow, evidence of fever. “Who is this?”

The doctor was startled. This young doctor never bothered to ask the identities of the soldiers they had passed earlier. “This is Corporal Levi Ackerman. He is a close friend of Commander Smith’s. He is one of the newly admitted ones. Erwin is quite worried over the state of his friend. Perhaps that’s why you were sent here.”

Eren placed a hand on the bedridden man’s forehead, only for it to be slapped away harshly. He found himself at the end of the line of sight of the man below, eyes glinting dangerously.

“Don’t fucking touch me, brat,” the man growled in a rough tone.

The emerald-eyed doctor pulled back reluctantly. “Corporal Levi, I am Doctor Eren Jaeger and I would like to ask you some questions if you think you are able enough?”

“... German? You must be Jewish,” the Frenchman tried to sit up with effort, sweat rolling off his face. “ The Head Doctor immediately went to assist but he was stopped with a glare. Levi refuses to admit defeat to a sickness. He would rather die in battle than fall this way.

“I am surprised. Not many look past my nationality,” Eren said in awe. To which the bedridden man snorted.

“They can’t look past their nose, most likely. Strange to become a doctor at such a young age. Stay the fuck away from me if you’re  - what do the Americans call it? - quack? I’ll kill you before I die of this sickness,” the Frenchman swore.

“I did not neglect my education, Herr Ackerman. My father is a respected doctor and he taught me well,” Eren couldn’t help but react. “What stage of the disease is Corporal Levi currently in?”he turned to the other doctor.

“The corporal is still at the early stages. He’s one of the new cases as of today. The French government are putting a lot of pressure on us. They do not want to lose the strongest man  they have in their army.”

The young doctor had to raise a brow for that but he made no comment. “Corporal Levi, could you tell me what you consumed and where you were prior to the manifestation of this disease?”

“... I was training and drank nothing but water. I don’t eat anything until after I finish training,” he answered with a scowl on his face, looking away from the young doctor.

"I see. If it has nothing to do with what you consumed, then Is there perhaps something that happened that is out of the ordinary? Loss of appetite. Sudden pain anywhere on your person. Felt heated more than usual..." Eren tried his hardest to remain meticulous and professional. He was deeply interested in the Frenchman for some unfathomable reason.

"I felt itchy. I've had itches before but that time it was particularly irritating to the point I caused a small scratch."

At this point Eren was unsure about the relevance of this information in connection with the malaise. But the relentlessness in this man's eyes, his unwillingness to give up, spurred him to find the source and cure the disease as soon as he is able.

"Thank you for your time, Corporal. Apologies for disturbing your rest. I promise to help you and all these men to get better." Eren said these words with heavy conviction. It was a promise he intends to keep at all cost.

Levi looked up into this young man's eyes and saw raw determination swirling in its green depths. “I don’t need your promises, German. All you have to do is succeed.” And as if in dismissal, Levi leaned back down to close his eyes and resumed his rest. Though he wouldn’t admit it, the young doctor with mesmerizing green eyes had eased his worries unknowingly. It helped him rest more easily, made the pain just a bit more bearable. He was no stranger to pain, not even death. But he would at least like to make something of his miserable existence, in service to his people.

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Doctor Jaeger, for the next several weeks, visited them daily and took personal note of each and everyone’s state. The one most irritated of his presence was Levi. He was always the last to be visited, and Eren’s visit with him was the longest. He wasn’t blind. He knew he was being treated specially. It was pointless however, because he was still bedridden like the rest of them. And although Eren won’t say it, he knew he was steadily getting worse.

“Good afternoon, Corporal,” Eren greeted cheerfully as he took it upon himself to fix the French soldier’s pillow and mopped his sweaty face.

“...What’s so good about it?”

“Don’t be like that, Corporal. You must keep up a positive outlook on things for you to get better. It is what my father always tells me whenever we see a sick patient.” He looked wistfully in the distance and that was when Levi realized, though subconsciously he already knew, that this doctor was still young, a young man caught in a world war, a son who yearns for his family.

“What is there to look forward to when I have to pin my hopes on a kid who isn’t even doing seriously in finding treatment for us. We are in the middle of war, in case you have forgotten.”

He was taken by surprise when Eren’s eyes turned sharp, looking quite serious all of a sudden. “I am trying my hardest. In the mornings I would make my rounds around the camp trying to investigate the root cause of this disease. And at night I would check all blood samples with inadequate equipment. I do not complain, Corporal.” What a cold voice, it sent shivers through his body completely unrelated to his fever.

At that moment a volunteer male nurse came by to deliver a message to Eren from the Head Doctor. He was scratching his arm and Eren couldn’t help but notice it, and so grabbed hold of the arm before the nurse scratched again.

“Is that an itch? Where did you get it?” He eyed the red blot of swollen skin.

“Ah no, a mosquito just bit me a few seconds ago. I killed it though, before it could get away with more of my blood,” the nurse said jokingly.

“...In this setting the one thing common among the tropics is the abundance of insects such as mosquitoes. If I remember correctly, there was a report not too long ago about bacteria transmitted through mosquito bite…And that old man we used to have as a neighbor… I have to consult my father’s personal records,” Eren mumbled to himself as he let go of the nurse’s arm. His brow lowered in deep thought and for the first time in weeks, Eren cut short his visit with Levi.

He walked out hurriedly but not before yelling out an order over his shoulder, at the nurse. “You, go tell the Head Doctor that all medical personnel from now on must be covered all over, complete with a mask over your face. Also, you better have yourself checked over. You’ll be joining these bedridden soldiers in the next few nights.” And then he was gone.

“..What?” the nurse floundered. “Is it contagious after all? I gotta get out of here and tell the doctor!”

Levi watched the male nurse run away in a panic. Stupid Americans. They’re too hotheaded. He shifted on his bed and picked up the book he was currently reading. But he just can’t dive into the plot. His mind was too active to concentrate on the book. And so he prayed, not to any particular god because he wasn’t a religious man in the first place. But he prayed nonetheless. The fucking brat better have found it or he’ll make him pay for cutting their visit short over nothing.

“Fuck! I’m turning American,” he muttered to himself.

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It took three whole days before he saw the brat of a doctor again. This time he wasn’t alone, though. The Head Pig, the Baldy Commander and the Crazy Four-eyes came in tow.

“...What in the fucking hell are  you all doing here?” he asked, voice tinged with anger as he glared at the small procession.

“Malaria!” Eren blurted out all of a sudden.

“...Huh?”

“I’m sorry. I’m going about this wrong,” the young doctor flushed in embarrassment. “I meant we found the cause of your illness. We have communicated with doctors from other camps and even did an experiment, though I personally think that was medically unethical,” he sent the Head Doctor a displeased frown. “And we confirmed that it was Malaria transmitted through a disease-carrying mosquito.”

“There isn’t an official cure, Levi. But through Doctor Jaeger, Eren’s father, we have found something that just might work.”

“I understand that this is a happy occasion, and all. But why do you have to come here and tell me?” he seethed.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Ackerman! Eren only felt guilty for cutting your visit short last time so here we are!” Hanji teased, causing Eren to blush.

“Major Hanji!”

“You sure are missed, Levi~”

“Major! You didn’t have to put it that way…”

Levi sighed and rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. “So? What’s the proposed cure?” He was getting tired, more so than usual. And he’s a sick man, for fuck’s sake. Why the heck are they aggravating him like this?

“We had an Italian neighbor, a scientist named Hans Andersag. My father always conversed with him, and through that we learned of the existence and possible cure of malaria that Dr. Andersag had discovered. He and his colleagues had developed a drug called Chloroquine, an antimalarial drug that was not widely recognized.” Eren went on to explain that because the drug was not widely recognized, chances of purchasing them was absolutely zero. But fortunately the Italian scientist had given Dr.Grisha Jaeger the protocol for recreating the drug. All that is left is to bring his father here, and Eren could assist in recreating the drug and mass produce them here to prevent anymore deaths due to malaria.

“Isn’t that great, Levi?” Hanji made herself comfortable at the foot of the patient’s bed. “You can get back on the battlefield once you recover. Am I right, Erwin?”

“Don’t worry, Levi,” Erwin smiled though it didn’t assure him one bit. “I’ll make sure Eren could still have time to visit you everyday despite how busy he’s going to be in the next few weeks.”

“...I’ll fucking kill you, you baldy American!” Levi swore.

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For the next weeks Eren really did visit him daily, always during the afternoon when the day was at its coolest. He never personally saw the brat’s father making rounds with him, but Eren says it’s only because the elder Jaeger knew his son would be doing it.

Levi would pretend to be irritated whenever Eren came, but really, he would always find himself counting down to the second before the young doctor would show up. Eren would care for his needs, including going for a piss, which greatly embarrassed the soldier to no end. But unlike how he was the first time they met, Eren was smiling more. He came to think of Eren’s accent as cute.

“Corporal Levi!” Eren came to him looking all breathless. “We finally did it! We’ll start administering the drugs to the patients later today!”

“You can stop with the ‘Corporal’, Eren. Even I get pissed when I’m made to call that baldy ‘Commander Erwin’ all the fucking time.” He shut the book and sighed. At least soon he’ll be able to eat properly without having to regurgitate everything he managed to keep down.

“Well, alright, Levi. I just came to let you know and… I must go prepare since I will also be doing the administering. All doctors within this camp will, as a matter of fact. So… I’ll see you again later?” Eren was reluctant to go, and Levi could clearly tell. Sometimes he wonders where that cold, beautiful Eren-persona went. Just as he was about to leave, Levi, with a sudden burst of strength, he snagged on the lapels of the white lab coat and pulled the young doctor close.

“...Once I get better, you better prepare yourself, _mon chéri_. You’re mine.” And he abruptly let go, causing the young doctor to stumble a bit. He walked shakily away, eyes dazed and face the reddest Levi had ever seen to date. He allowed a smug smile to form on his lips. Germans… aren’t so bad. Not this German at least.

Eren stumbled back into the tent that served as a makeshift laboratory. His father eyed him curiously. “Son, don’t tell me you got sick, today of all days.”

Eren shook his head, still in a daze. “.. _Vati_ … I think I’m in love with a Frenchman.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as accurate to the timeline as possible. Any words or phrases that may seem like discrimination is just imagined, and not on purpose, or if on purpose, was used due to its relevance in the dialogue/line.
> 
> Johann "Hans" Andersag is a real Italian scientist who died in Germany. His contribution in the history of malaria is also real. 
> 
> Sources of information: Wikipedia  
> 1\. Search "History of Malaria"  
> 2\. Search "Johann Andersag"
> 
> Herr = Gr., Mr.  
> mon chéri = Fr., darling, honey  
> Vati = Gr., Dad, Daddy


End file.
